


Being neighborly

by larchwood



Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 17:39:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17047631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larchwood/pseuds/larchwood
Summary: Prompt from mahmah-tee:  My very attractive neighbor from across the street (who happens to be a law enforcement officer) came out to power wash his drive, wearing shorts, a tee shirt & backwards ball cap. Whilst tending to his task, he starts belting out what I believe are show tunes … and he’s pretty darn good (he’s also married, but that’s beside the point). He was just so adorable 😊Anyway, all I can think of is what a great Ty/Zane AU this would make … Ty & Zane live across the street from each other, but don’t really know each other very well (or maybe one just recently moved there). Ty of course is the singer & Zane is the neighbor enamored with his performance?





	Being neighborly

“Motherfucker!” Ty cursed as he turned onto his street. A large moving truck was parked haphazardly across the street from his house, narrowing the street so much that he couldn’t get past it into his own driveway.

And after a crappy all night stakeout with a perp chase through the streets, he simply didn’t have the patience to deal with this shit. All he wanted was a shower, a beer (or two or three) and a solid eight hours horizontal. He practically wanted to cry, he was so close to all of that.

He glared over at the crew unloading the moving van, as he nearly throttled the bronco’s steering wheel. Even after being awake for thirty-six hours, his hyper vigilance training kicked in, making a note of anything new and different to his usual routine.

Discounting the handful of men in logo’ed tshirts and cargo shorts, Ty took a closer look at the man and woman standing in the front yard, arms around each other, looking away from him and towards the house. Woah, the guy was tall and built like shit brickhouse. Black curly hair held back by a folded bandana. His Under Armour sleeveless tshirt highlighted his freakin magnificent shoulders and arms and the cut off sweatpants showed miles of leg. Damn, Ty thought, hope he’s a friendly. The last thing Ty wanted living across the street from him was an asshole who could possibly be showing up on the police blotter.

The man rested his cheek on the woman’s head as he hugged her to him. All Ty could see of her was long black hair and the impression of a trim fit body in yoga wear. Even though he couldn’t see either of their faces, he was pretty sure that they were both attractive - and probably both his type.

Figures, he huffed. First time someone under the age of fifty moves into the neighborhood and they’re already in a relationship.

Ty turned back to the problem at hand. If he wanted to park in his driveway, he’d have to drive on the sidewalk and probably take out both his mailbox and Mrs. Oberley’s planter box on the corner of her yard. He didn’t give a rat’s ass about his mailbox, but he didn’t want to stress out his elderly neighbor.

He sighed and rested his head on his steering wheel. He wasn’t going to be a douche and demand that his new neighbor move the van. The only option was to just park in front of Mrs. Oberley’s house until the van moved and hope that no other cars clipped the bronco while trying to maneuver down the street.

He was passive aggressive enough to glare at the couple while slamming his car door before stomping into his house. The mission now was sleep - he’d be having words with the new neighbors if they made enough noise to wake him up.

*******************

Zane tightened his hold on Annie as they looked up at the house. He vaguely registered the sound of a door slamming nearby as he pressed a kiss on her hair.

“Thanks so much for coming up for this,” he murmured. “I’m not sure I could have handled this on my own.”

Annie gave him a little poke in the ribs to lighten the mood. “I’m sure mom would have loved to come help,” she smirked. Zane shuddered. “No. Just no. She micromanaged the first 18 years of my life. I don’t need her input now.”

Annie gave him a quick kiss on the shoulder before smooshing his cheeks in with her hands. “Look at you,” she teased. “A strong independent 42 year old man who don’t need his momma.”

Zane growled at her and batted her hands away before rubbing his knuckles on her head. She shrieked with laughter as she tried to avoid his long arms. Some things never changed, she thought fondly.

Once she finished gulping for air she moved in to hug Zane again. “You sure you’re ready for all this?” she asked softly. “It’s okay if you need to take longer, you know. Even if you didn’t want to live on the ranch, you could still be in the guest house for as long as you needed.”

Zane blew out a deep breath before answering. “It’s time, Annie. I’m starting to go stir crazy. Nothing good will come of me stewing in thoughts of what might have been. Becky wouldn’t have wanted that. I feel like I’ve finally clawed my way out of the darkness. If I stayed back home, I’m not sure I could go forward. Even for you or Sadie or Dad.”

Annie patted him on the back while arching back to look at him. She smiled knowingly. “I got ya. Sometimes a clean break is best, yeah?”

“Yep,” he drawled. “I’m just grateful that the Baltimore office had an opening. It’ll be good to get back to work.” He suddenly turned and hoisted Annie up onto his shoulder in a fireman’s hold. “C’mon,” he said over her shrieking and he strode into the house. “Let’s get this stuff unloaded and get cleaned up so we can go to dinner. I’m ready to see if the crabcakes here are as good as they say.”

*********

Ty didn’t really see his new neighbors for another few weeks. The major crimes case he had been working on screwed with the regular 9 to 5 shifts. He did make note of all the changes they had made to the outside of the house; solar lights lining the driveway, terra cotta planters on either side of the front door, and a porch swing. Usually he noticed lights on in the evening, but the shades were always drawn, so there were no clues there.

That all changed one Saturday afternoon while Ty was cleaning his kitchen. He glanced out the window and did a double take when he noticed the neighbors’ garage door open. He had never seen it open before, and had assumed that it would be filled with the usual garage detris - tools, camping equipment, car parts, junk. Maybe the wife’s car rated the indoor parking, because he never saw anything parked outside other than the guy’s truck.

Instead, the guy kept an almost professional level of gym workout equipment in there, plus some sort of motorcycle. Ty couldn’t have described it all, because he was staring stupid at the neighbor, shirtless with boxing gloves on, taking a turn at the sandbag. The man was a beast as he worked out, muscles straining and glistening and….

Ty felt himself reacting to the sight and had to look away before he got any harder. Staring at eye candy was one thing, but Ty wasn’t going to start perving on a married man. He whimpered a little as he had to adjust himself, and then grabbed a beer before plopping down on his couch to determinedly watch the Os get their ass kicked, again.

**********

Today marked four months since Zane moved in. The Craftsman style house was a far cry from the C&G Ranch, but he felt so much more comfortable here, far away from the memories of Becky and the expectations of his mother. He found that he enjoyed being a homeowner. Up to this point he had always lived at home, or at college, or in a rental. Even mowing his yard still felt like a novel experience. He was sure the rose colored glasses would come off if the pipes froze over the winter. But for now it was nice.

And having the extra room meant there was plenty of room to set up a painting space. He’d only been able to even consider creating anything in the past couple of months. Rather than the portraits and landscapes he had done when he was younger, the only way he could really express himself now was in abstracts, wide swaths of color that pretty much reflected his emotional outlook on any given day. Blacks and grays still took the center of attention some days, but now the warmth of golden light and passionate reds and verdant greens were just as likely to be featured on his palette.

Work was good. Being a lawyer for the FBI meant he was always busy and never bored. He stayed busy enough that he could avoid going home to visit his parents without out and out lying to his mother.

But he had made friends with enough people at work that at least once a week he met someone for lunch or drinks after work. Clancy had talked him into being her date for a family wedding next month. He could only imagine how they’d look with their height difference, and he was maybe a little afraid that he’d have some melancholy moments during the ceremony, but he was actually looking forward to it.

And Alston was riding him hard to consider being on the FBI softball team. Apparently Scott thought he might be their chance to beat the BPD’s team this year. Zane was pretty accurate throwing the ball, but Alston was going to be disappointed if he thought Zane was going to be breaking any speed records or sliding into home base. A guy with his bulk just didn’t move that fast.

Alston simply patted him on the shoulder and assured him there was no problem. “What you lack in speed, you make up for in hand-eye coordination. Plus,” he winked, “you make a pretty distraction.” Zane just rolled his eyes at the suggestion that he was pretty. He’d allow that his face had “character” between the broken nose and silver in his hair - but that’s as far as he’d go.

Zane wasn’t sure he was ready to date again. He had been with Becky for over twenty years and that kind of intimacy and trust was hard to shed. But he could admit that he was a little lonely. Being solitary and figuring out who he was without Becky had been difficult, and also cathartic. He wouldn’t mind having someone to come home to occasionally.

Or fuck. The depression he’d been drowning in for months was gradually letting up. And as a byproduct of that, his libido was also making itself known lately. He was actually starting to notice the attractiveness of random people he came in contact with throughout the day. He might be up for a random hook up. Maybe.

But the idea of being intimate with another woman other than Becky kind of made him cringe. The idea of sex with another woman seemed like a betrayal, and he just wasn’t sure he could do that yet.

He was toying with the idea of visiting a club this weekend as he drove home on Friday after work. Maybe an encounter at a bar with a guy would take the edge off. The thought was titillating, yet a little scary. He had been 100% devoted to Becky, but they both knew he was attracted to guys, yet he had never ever wanted to explore that as long as he had her. Now that she gone, though, he allowed himself to consider the possibilities. And he could admit, to himself at least, that the idea was kind of exciting.

He parked in his driveway and loosened his tie as he got out of the cab of his truck. He couldn’t wait to get out of his suit. Maybe a ride on the Valkyrie was in order tonight.

He bent over to pick up the newspaper he neglected to pick up this morning before work, then moved towards the mailbox at the end of his driveway. As he flipped through the circulars and junk mail in the box - half of which was addressed to the previous owner, he was distracted by the music coming from the house across the street.

Zane had not officially met this neighbor yet. It seemed that the guy worked an unpredictable schedule most days. Zane had caught a glimpse of him occasionally - usually coming or going from the house in his Ford Bronco, or periodically chatting with his elderly next door neighbor as he helped carry in groceries and the like from her car. One memorable day the guy had been mowing her yard, shirtless with headphones and aviators on, singing something that Zane couldn’t hear over the lawnmower. Zane might have stared longer than necessary.

Today the guy was working on his Bronco in his driveway, a radio playing a classic rock channel next to his toolbox. His upper half was practically buried in the engine block of the Bronco, but his ass! Zane couldn’t look away. The guy was wearing a pair of tight faded jeans and he was basically wiggling his ass along with the music. Zane had a sudden irrational desire to know what it was like to smack that particular ass. And maybe bite it.

  
Considering where Zane’s thoughts had been the past few days, it almost seemed like a sign that he needed to get laid. He stood there dumbstruck while the guy did a Motown karaoke of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” complete with singing into a wrench like a microphone along with hand gestures a la the Supremes. Zane fled inside so the guy wouldn’t catch him staring.

*******

A couple of weeks later, and Zane found himself catching a ride home after work with Freddy Parrimore. He had ridden the Valkyrie to work this morning, but some idiot had sideswiped it in the parking garage, bending the back fork of the bike. No way it could be ridden as it was. Luckily Freddy said he’d give him a ride home to get his truck so he drive back and haul the bike to a garage for repairs.

Freddy was probably Zane’s closest friend at work. They usually spotted each other in the gym, and Zane appreciated his laid back personality. As aggravated as he was about the bike, spending time with Freddy kept him from blowing the whole thing out of proportion.

Right now, Freddy was talking to Zane about his plans to propose to his girlfriend this weekend. The man was practically babbling with nerves. Zane teased him for it, but he remembered all too well how anxious he had been himself, even though he had been pretty sure what Becky’s answer would be. He felt pretty sure that Freddy had nothing to worry about, but ragging your buddy about such a life altering decision was a sacred time honored thing.

They had just turned on Zane’s street and he was directing Perrimore to his house when Freddy suddenly rolled down the window and yelled, “Grady!” before slamming the car into park in the middle of the street.

Zane stifled his ‘what the fuck’ reaction when he realized that Freddy was trying to get the attention of the cute neighbor across the street, who was moving back his garbage cans off the curb. He saw the guy’s eyes widen with surprise before he strode over to the driver’s side window.

“Hey, man!” he said as he reached into the cab of the car to do some intricate fist bump with Freddy. “What are you doing in this neck of the woods?” His eyes flickered over to Zane with interest before looking back at Freddy. Zane squirmed a little in his seat, wondering if he was mistaken about that look.

Freddy didn’t seem to notice any undercurrents between the other two men, and just laughed as he gestured to Zane over his shoulder, “I’m just giving a Garrett a ride home after work. You’re actually home at a decent hour for once, huh? BPD must be slacking off these days!”

Ty just gave him a sarcastic eyeroll. Smack talk between agencies was a time honored tradition, whether you were talking about military branches or the government alphabet soup. But he smiled as he did it. Freddy was his go to person at the FBI to run interference, and they usually got together at least once a month for a beer after work.

“Nah, man,” he replied. “I just finished an undercover thing and the powers that be said I could actually have the weekend off for being such a ‘hard worker’,” - the air quotes did a good job of conveying his sarcasm. The other two men knew what kind of sacrifices had to be made to get the job done.

“I hear that,” Freddy chortled and lifted a hand for a first bump, which Ty readily gave him. But his eyes still strayed over to Zane in the passenger seat. “Garrett, huh?” he said with a leading inflection in his tone.

Freddy’s eyes widened and he pointed back and forth to each other like a tennis spectator. “You mean you guys haven’t met yet?” As both of the other men continued to stare at each other, Freddy barked a laugh and said, “what the hell - you guys live across the street from each other!”

Zane flushed a little while Ty just hummed at Freddy’s amusement. “So why don’t you do the honors, Perrimore?” His unusual drawl hit Zane and he wanted to shiver at the sound.

Freddy huffed a laugh and said, “Sure, pal. Lieutenant B. Tyler Grady, Baltimore Police Department, meet FBI Special Agent Zane Z. Garrett, legal department.”

Zane reached over to shake Ty’s hand, while he murmured, “Pleased to meet you, Ty.” His handshake was firm and Ty kind of wanted to linger a little bit over that. It would be even better, he thought, if he could keep the man talking with that accent, preferably without Perrimore in the middle.

Freddy just kept talking. “I can’t believe you two haven’t met yet. What the hell do you guys do in your off time? Hibernate in your houses?”

Ty sulked a little bit at that. “Hey! Undercover work,” he said, as if that excused everything. “Besides,” he muttered, “I saw Garrett the day he moved in, but I was more interested in sleeping off a 36 hour shift than meeting the new neighbors.” He glanced almost bashfully at Zane, “Sorry.”

“Neighbors?” Zane asked, confused at the plural.

“Uh, yeah,” Ty replied. “You and your wife? Girlfriend? Brunette, about 5 foot 10, yoga clothes?”

Zane barked a laugh at that. “No, no, no. No wife. No girlfriend. That was just my sister, up from Texas to help me move. You must not have gotten a good look at the two of us. The first thing most people say when they meet us is that we must be siblings, we look so much alike.”

Ty perked up at little tidbit. “Well,” he practically purred. “In that case, it’s very nice to meet you, Zane.” 

**Author's Note:**

> So there it is. In my mind, Zane never spiraled quite as badly after Becky’s death as in the books.
> 
> in C&R, Ty thinks maybe he should have been a cop like his friend instead of going into the FBI
> 
> In D&C, Ty asks why he shouldn’t shoot Perrimore, who says he runs interference for him with the BPD. So that’s why Freddy’s in this one.
> 
> Instead of living in a row house, they’re living the suburbs of Baltimore. It’s the only way to fit in front yards in the set up


End file.
